Alice Longbottom didn't remember being a mum.
And she didn't remember much else, either.
But she did remember something.
When healears at St. Mungo saw her they always asked her name or her age.
And she just shook her head, because she didn't remember any of those.
So the healers looked at each other and whispered:
'She doesn't remember anything at all'.
A part of her wanted to scream:
'It's not true! I do remember! I remember!'
But she never said that. Because the healers would ask her her name and her age again, and she didn't have the answers.
Sometimes she sat alone in her room and she counted all the memories she had.
One, two, three... she counted, moving slowly her fingers.
'What are you doing, honey?' a nurse asked kindly.
Eight! They're eight! Alice wanted to say, but no sound came out of her mouth.
So, she thought about them. Her eight memories.
A man laughing happily. He had a rounded face and dimples on his cheecks.
'A child! We're going to have a child! Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that amazing? A child!' he was screaming.
She had no idea who the man was or who he was talking to.
A very fat version of herself. A very fat version of herself looking in the mirror and smiling happily. She was talking to a man (the same man of the previous memory? She couldn't answer to that question). The man had a big smile and was touching her stomach.
'I'm so happy...' he was saying.
'Me too...' she was answering.
Herself talking to a red haired woman with a big tummy and saying: 'They've to meet each other, they'll become good friends'.
The other woman was answering and saying:
'Yes, it's going to be awesome. They'll grow up together.'
An old woman saying in an excited voice: 'A grandson! A grandson! He'll bring honour to our family! How are you going to call him?'
And a man's voice answering:
'Neville, just like dad'
Herself holding a small child in her arms and singing a lullaby.
A man was close to her and whispering in her ear: 'He's wonderful' and she was whispering back 'Yes, he is'.
A man yelling: 'Honey! Come now! Come immediately! Come! Come!' and a woman (was it herself? Again, she didn't know) running and screamnig: 'Frank! Frank! Where are the Death Eaters?' and the man answering with a smile: 'No, no Death Eathers. Neville has just said ma'. 'Really?' the woman asked 'Really? Neville, say it again, please. Say ma'. The boy grinned and screamed 'Ma! Ma!'.
A bed. A big big bed. And herself and a child curled up there. She was saying: 'Neville, I love you.. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I'm scared that someone might hurt you. That's why you have to stay a couple of weeks at grandma's.'
The little boy snorted and she laughed.
'Oh, camon. Grandma loves you. And then, it's just for a few days. Then you'll come back here and you'll stay with us'
The little boy gazed at her.
'Yes, Neville. You'll never leave us anymore. I promise'.
The boy smiled
There were some people who paid a visit to Alice, especially in the first years she had been at St. Mungo's.
An old woman used to come every single day and to cry on her shoulder.
There were other people coming as well. They told her their names, but she didn't recognise any of them.
Remus... Alastor... Kingsley... Albus... Minerva... Arthur... Elphias... none of them had a familiar face.
But sometimes the old woman took with her a young boy. He used to come more often when he was a child. After he grew up he came only on Christmas and Summer holidays.
The boy always smiled and gazed at her like he expected her to say something any moment. He called her mum, and she couldn't understand why.
She liked that boy. She liked him because her most important memory came to her only in his presence.
It was a special memory. In fact in the others there just hazy images. This one was different: there were feelings.
She was in a bed wearing a white nightgown.
A man gave her a child.
'Look,' he said 'it's our Neville'
She gazed at the child and she felt her heart overwhelmed with joy. She was happy, happy, happy. She thought that nobody could ever hurt her, that nobody could ever steal from her her happiness and her joy. She gazed at the child and felt an endless love towards him.
Alice smiled at the boy.
This memory makes me happy, she thought
This boy makes me happy, she thought again.
She wanted to talk to him. To ask him his name or his age.
But words never came to her mouth.
So she just took a gum wrapper and gave it to him.
The boy always smiled and took it gratefully.
And she was happy. Happy, happy, happy.
Alice Longbottom didn't remember being a mum.
But she remembered the joy of being a mother.
A/N What do you think? I hope you like it. Next one is Mrs. Creevey (any suggestions for her name? I thought of Julie...)